Spam/Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE) Flagging & Filtering
Date: July 27, 2004
To: All Campus 'utah.edu' Email Users
From: The Office of Information Technology
Re: Spam/Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE) Flagging & Filtering
In response to the March 2004 Academic Senate resolution to limit the
impact of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE, also known as "spam") on
student and staff productivity and efficiency and on the University's
email servers, the Office of Information Technology has implemented a
server-side spam flagging system.
The central campus iPlanet e-mail servers use SpamAssassin
(http://spamassassin.org) to identify which messages are possible spam
and to flag them with distinguishing header information. As of July 28,
2004, all messages identified as UCE/spam will have their subject line
modified to include the text "[UCE]". If you choose, messages
classified as UCE/spam can then be filtered into a folder using your
local mail client. As a result, unsolicited messages will stay out of
your Inbox and will be easier to deal with. If you choose to enable
spam filtering, you should review the contents of your spam folder
regularly to ensure that legitimate e-mail messages are not accidentally
filtered as spam. You should also empty your spam folder regularly.
How it Works
1. A message comes into the OIT e-mail system.
2. The message is handed off to SpamAssassin, which rates the contents
of the e-mail message. Words or phrases that are considered spam-like
increase the rating. The spam "score" is expressed in e-mail header
that is added to the message. The higher the score, the more likely it
is that you do not want it in your Inbox. Messages with a high score
will have "[UCE]" added to the subject line. E-mail originating from a
University e-mail address will automatically have a reduced spam score.
3. If the recipient's e-mail client has an active spam filter, the
message may be filtered into the "possible spam" folder.
How to Use the Client Filtering
To set up client-side filtering, follow the instructions at
http://www.it.utah.edu/services/helpDesk/emailWebhelp/emailspam_faq.html.
At this time, server-side filtering is not available. The issue of
unsolicited and unwanted e-mail is complex and there is no perfect
solution, technical or otherwise. The flagging-filtering product which
OIT has chosen will allow mail to be flagged and received rather than
deleted, so you as the end user have the option to read it or delete it.
If you have further concerns, please see our Frequently Asked Questions
or contact the Campus Help Desk at 581-4000 option 1.
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Distribution of this message was approved by Stephen Hess, Associate
Academic Vice President for Information Technology, University of Utah
Phone (801) 581-3100, 101 Wasatch Drive, Eccles Broadcast Center,
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
